August 12, 2026 Summer’s here! Calendar of organized and charity rides, big events Suburban bike clubs and other organizations host invitational and charity rides all year. This is a list of the prominent organized rides plus big events in the suburbs.
August 11, 2026 Invitational review: The Naperville Rotary Ride on great Kendall County roads The Naperville Rotary Ride hasn’t been the biggest on the suburban calendar, but for nearly three decades it’s taken bicyclists on great exurban roads and helped charities.
July 11, 2026 Favorite road ride: Through Barrington Hills to Algonquin’s River Drive One long road ride I figured out early in my amateur bicycling “career” took me through Barrington Hills to a wonderful road along the Fox River: River Drive in Algonquin.
June 22, 2026 Finish this ride in southern Wisconsin and get a pie If you want to draw bicyclists from suburban Chicago to Janesville, Wisconsin, serve ’em pie. That was the selling point of the Janesville Pie Ride besides the pretty bike trails and country roads north of Rockford.
May 25, 2026 Ride review: The McHenry County Century on pretty country roads to support people in parks A bike ride on the pretty open roads of McHenry County was an annual event put on by the McHenry County Bicycle Club. Now one woman’s company runs it professionally and charitably.
May 1, 2026 Merry month of May: What’s happening in the suburbs for National Bike Month May is National Bike Month, as established by the League of American Bicyclists in 1956, and plenty of suburban events are organized for it. Here are highlights, then a list.
April 7, 2026 Post No. 100: How to ride a century, 100 miles in a day, in the suburbs We’ve reached 100 posts on this website! What better topic for the 100th post than riding 100 miles in one day? Here’s where and how you can do it in the suburbs.
March 4, 2026 Grand tour of the northwest preserves: How to ride these four Cook County trails in one trip The northwest suburbs of Cook County have four great forest preserve trails not too far from each other. Imagine riding them all in one day.
February 10, 2026 Great winter getaway ride: Gulf Blvd. and the bridges around Clearwater, Florida While scouting routes during my visits to the Clearwater area, I quickly discovered Gulf Blvd. on the map. It’s on a thin strip of land, really a few islands, providing Gulf and Tampa Bay views.
December 27, 2025 Top suburban Chicago bicycling news in 2025: E-bikes, roundabouts, bridges and more In the first year of this website, I found even more suburban Chicago bicycling news than I imagined I would. E-bike laws, new bridges and roundabouts were among the most read topics.
November 12, 2025 List of bike clubs in Chicago’s suburbs: What some do in cold weather A lot of the activity and advocacy happening in the Chicago suburbs comes from the many bike clubs. Members gather regularly — some even when it gets too cold or dark to ride.
November 6, 2025 Our best fall colors of 2025: Less the preserves and more the neighborhoods It seemed like we waited longer this year for the fall colors, didn’t it? And what we’ve seen while riding around has been more muted. That means we just had to look a little harder.
September 6, 2025 Bike the Drive ’25: Bicycling an open Lake Shore Drive, with no wind! The 2025 edition of Bike the Drive in Chicago may have been one of the most glorious I’ve ridden, because there was no wind! And a prominent local club helped me set a fast pace.
August 19, 2025 Invitational ride review: Roun’da Manure out of Sharon, Wisconsin, with ice cream How about a bike ride where every rest stop is an ice cream shop and there’s a pig roast at the end? Even if it’s not exactly all that anymore, Roun’da Manure might pique your interest.
July 7, 2025 Favorite road ride: Lake Barrington, Port Barrington, Island Lake (now with roundabouts) The pretty ride through Lake Barrington, Port Barrington and Island Lake now features roundabouts, too.
July 1, 2025 When I got to ride Tour de France routes (and another amazing one) For my 50th birthday I got to ride a couple of the famous climbs of the Tour de France plus another neighboring mountain. Here’s what Tourmalet, Peyragudes and Tentes were like.
June 25, 2025 Charity bike ride on the open roads: A hot, windy Bike MS Tour de Farms The Bike MS Tour de Farms is what the title says it is: a ride through open farmland. Those who’ve ridden the charity event know that the open land usually exposes you to all kinds of weather.
June 12, 2025 Invitational ride review: Bicycle Club of Lake County’s Wisconsin Ramble The Bicycle Club of Lake County began June with an invitational it had been preparing for all year, and it was neither in Lake County nor even in Illinois. Organizers chose a more peaceful area.
June 5, 2025 Invitational ride review: Arlington 500 through southwest Lake County The Arlington 500 invitational has been a staple of the suburban invitational calendar for years. This year’s version through southwest Lake County was another well-organized event.
May 24, 2025 Secret scenic road: Callahan Road in Lake County West Lake County is a great place for peaceful scenic roads and a pocket of road riding opportunities. My money road out here is Callahan Road out of Wauconda.
